A Warm embrace after the Rain
by iheartsasuke
Summary: Let's face it. Even Shinobis have their 'off' days. And for Sakura, it was that day. But, through all that, there is something in a warm embrace from a loved one that soothes even the toughest of pains. SasuSaku one-shot.  Fixed some grammatical errors


**Hey everyone, iheartsasuke here. **

**Well, I don't own Naruto or anything associated with it , but I am really grateful that Kishismoto-sama got the brilliant idea to create such a great manga. ^^  
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**As for this story, it would take place after the fourth ninja war and Sasuke somehow (really hoping^^) became 'good' again and revealed his feelings to Sakura and everyone was super happy. (Optimism is exuding from my pores… *Huge grin*)**

**One last thing, the story was inspired by the weather I have been experiencing lately. The weather has been really erratic where I live. And it's supposed to be summer too…but alas, the rain has conquered the sky. Oh, and I really wanted to write a SasuSaku story. **

**Anyway, here is the story =)**

_Italics _**for thoughts**

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><p><span>A Warm embrace after the rain…<span>

'_Damn it Sakura, where are you?'_ the Uchiha thought as he fought the rain, running down the streets to find his teammate ... his girlfriend. _'Why is it raining this heavily in the middle of summer?'_ he thought to himself. He was still in his ANBU uniform with his mask barely sheltering his head from the torrential rain and a regulation tan coat from Konoha. The grey clouds and night time did not aid him in his search for her: it only made it worse.

The pink-haired kunoichi had run out of the Hokage's office earlier that day, after she was told her mission was a complete failure that led to the loss of a great number of secret and invaluable scrolls. If it weren't for Sasuke's ANBU unit, Sakura's squad would have been in grave danger.

'_Damn it Tsunade. Of course the team would be outnumbered. A four man cell made up of two genin, a medical chuunin and a specialist jounin for interrogation wouldn't even be able to properly figure out how to defeat a heavily guarded twenty storey building with 500 jounin-level ninjas. The cell was not evenly matched and none of them excelled in battle taijutsu, genjutsu and tactical skills - save for Sakura. And she was only the support.'_

The number of ninjas in Konoha were so low that the members in the teams were not properly calculated to support each other. As Sasuke ran down the streets, using his Sharingan to find his team mate, he came across a lonely figure sitting on the infamous bench under the harsh rain.

As he approached the individual, he noticed the tears that fell from her eyes as well as the rain that cascaded down her face.

"Sakura..." Sasuke said softly and gently, trying to be careful as he thought that at any moment, in her fragile state, she would break into a million pieces.

"What have I done? I knew that we shouldn't have attacked the enemy head-on but because I didn't say anything, it held us back and led to the failure of the mission."

Sasuke moved his arm to touch her shoulder but she retreated. She moved down the bench, but the Uchiha sat down next to her.

"Sakura, you did your best. The team… it wasn't a good match up. If it is anybody's fault, it is the Hokage's fault." His words did not ease the pain she felt.

Her tears continued to fall down her face, their pace gradually getting faster.

The young Uchiha stood up and crouched in front of her. "Sakura, you are going to get sick. Come on. My house is just a few blocks from here. You can dry off there and make your way home. "

He stood up and gestured an open hand in front of her. She hesitated before placing her hand in his. Before they knew it, they were at his place.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura managed to murmur. "Thank you...for this..." She smiled a fake smile just so that she could leave. But as she reached the door, both ninjas heard the relentless rain falling down even harder.

"I don't think you can go leave tonight. Maybe try tomorrow," the blue-haired shinobi suggested. "The rain sounds as if it's the drum solo entrance before the thunder takes centre stage."

There was silence.

The young male sighed and removed his soaked coat. As he was hanging up his clothes, Sakura walked down the halls and found the comfort she knew as Sasuke's couch. With no effort, Sakura collapsed onto the couch, her back finding the soft cushions to break her fall.

Sasuke followed suit and sat down next to her. A brief moment of silence was soon interrupted by the sound of sniffles and teeth grinding.

He knew that she still wasn't able to deal with the current situation, but it pained his heart to see her hurt. As much as Sakura would've liked to be left alone, Sasuke came closer to her. He wrapped one arm around her and soon enough, he found her face buried in his shirt, her tears staining the Uchiha's uniform. His eyes shot open.

Even though her cries were muffled by the ANBU uniform, Sasuke could still hear her saying something in the words of "If only I could be more reliable and stronger... If only I could be better so that people would come to me for help, not just to help me." His face soon relaxed and his hand went through Sakura's damp pink hair. "Shh... It's okay... It's alright..." was all the elite could say, hoping to console his love.

As her muffled cry grew silent, Sasuke said, "Sakura, your clothes are still really wet from the rain. Do you have any spare clothes that you packed for the mission?" She lifted her head, exposing her puffy eyes, pink warm cheeks and red nose, and shook her head.

The gentleman gently smirked and wiped the remaining tears away from her eyes. As his hands reached the end of her eyes, he cupped her cheeks and looked into her eyes with a loving gaze. "That's okay. I can give you some clothes." He leaned in closely and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.

As he held her hand and guided her through his house, they walked up the stairs and had reached his room. Sasuke opened the door of his room and Sakura took a moment to observe her current surroundings before the light opened.

It was a modest sized room for an ANBU ninja. As soon as one would enter, the large window that overlooked the village would grasp their attention. The sheer ivory curtains did not help completely filter out the moon's rays but helped illuminate the Uchiha's room. On Sakura's left was Sasuke's double bed fitted with white bed sheets that had an Uchiha fan in each corner. The bed was between two black side tables. The table to the left of the bed had a porcelain lamp while the table closest to the window had a picture of Team 7 in their Genin days. A stifled giggle managed to escape from Sakura's mouth. Past the left side table was his walk-in closet and a private bathroom.

To the right, there was his tallboy and bookshelf. A collection of Ninja manuals and scrolls barely fit on the bookshelf, looking as though the contents were about to explode out of the black shelf.

With fumbling hands, Sasuke found the light switch and flicked it down. Still holding hands, he brought Sakura to the edge of his bed while he walked over to his closet. Rustling through his clothes he found a large white T shirt that he thought would function as a dress for Sakura.

"Here. Sorry, it's the only piece of clothing I have that would be both long enough as a dress and still pretty enough to wear." Gesturing out his hand with the oversized shirt, Sasuke brought his right hand to the back of his head and smirked, a faint shade of pink brushing his cheeks. Smiling, Sakura took the shirt and changed in the bathroom.

Sasuke took this opportunity to get ready for bed. Because he was the only one living in his house, he had only one bed. _'I take it that I need to sleep on the floor today'_. He let out a small sigh and proceeded to grab some more bed covers.

After Sakura changed into her pyjamas, she squeezed out the remaining water in her clothes and placed it in a heap in the corner of the bathroom. She helped herself to a toothbrush under his sink and finished with her evening rituals.

The kunoichi grabbed the doorknob when suddenly a yawn escaped her lips. Walking out of the toilet, she covered her mouth with her left hand and stretched the right arm upwards. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and when it returned, she saw Sasuke fixing his bed sheets on the floor.

"Hey there, sleepy. The bed is waiting for you," he said with a smile.

"What? No. Honestly. I can sleep on the floor. I am the one staying over here."

"Exactly. Which is why you will sleep on the bed."

Knowing she wouldn't win this argument, she pouted and looked at him. "At least we can share the bed. The floor doesn't look that comfortable, Sasuke-kun, and I know you have a mission tomorrow."

"Mattaku... Okay," was all the Uchiha could say. As they both slipped into bed, both faced the opposite direction – Sakura faced the window while Sasuke faced the closet. Sakura's mother would not approve of the Uchiha if she found out they had shared a bed.

Sleep sounded really good to the Uchiha. Just as his eyes began to close, he heard her shiver. "Are you cold?" he asked, still facing his side of the bed. "Yes," was all she could say, grabbing the sheets closer to her chest.

_'I hope you don't find out about this Haruno-kaasan' _

Sasuke turned around and scooted over to Sakura, covering her in a warm embrace. "I don't have my doona out because it's the middle of summer. So I hope this is okay." His arm snaked over her waist and his face was buried in her neck.

"It's more than enough," she replied. She turned around so that she was facing him. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly parted. All she could think of was that he looked so peaceful.

"Sasuke-kun?"

His eyes fluttered open. "Hmm?"

Sakura filled the space between them and kissed him. She felt his warm lips on hers and as if on cue, her heart began to race. He did not plead for entry nor did he want dominance, he just gently kissed her in reply.

As they parted lips, she smiled and he smirked.

"Thank you."

They looked at each other lovingly for a few moments before Sakura moved closer to his chest and closed her eyes.

Sasuke kissed her forehead again and twirled her hair in his fingers. Soon enough, he was sound asleep, and so was she.

-x-

"Teme. He is late again," Naruto exclaimed, walking in through Sasuke's door. "He knows that we eat breakfast with Tsunade-baachan before we do this particular mission."

Kakashi was with him, but was not paying attention as he was re-reading his Icha Icha paradise novel for the n-th time. Both climbed the stairs and reached the room. As the door opened, Naruto was about to become Sasuke's personal alarm and scream 'TEME' until he saw his two teammates sound asleep.

The morning sunlight hit their sleeping faces and Naruto and Kakashi couldn't help but smile.

"Finally..." Kakashi thought.

Both men decided to leave their teammates in their current state and agreed to let them be.

"It's okay," Naruto said, "He can miss breakfast... I'll just eat his share."

Just like that, the two men tiptoed out of the room and slowly closed the door, leaving the two lovers sleeping in each other's warm embrace.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading ^^ I really hope it made sense. <strong>

**Just some A/N:**

**Aahaha, Kakashi. Only he would think like that!**

**And as for Sakura's mother…What can I say? She has a protective mother =)**

**Lastly, if Sasuke seems alittle AU, I'm sorry! I just wanted to show that because of the war, he is a changed man for the better. **

**Someone kindly pointed this out (thank you ^^). N-th time is … how should I say this? There's no definite number because he's been caught reading the novel over and over again. So I just settled for n-th time (LOL Maths…such a great influence! :] )**

**Thanks again for reading this story! If there are any grammar mistakes and errors, please let me know! **

**Oh, and if possible, a review? =]**

**-iheartsasuke**


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